There was
a time when the chatter of the Hell Gate
pilots could be heard throughout City Island
and most especially at Belden Point where
they had their headquarters. Other than the
very popular Captain Ed Sadler, you don’t
see too many Hell Gate pilots around the
island these days. There are, however, the
permanent residents now interred in Pelham
Cemetery on King Street. The graves of quite
a few Hell Gate pilots can be found there.

John
Ulman, superintendent of the
Pelham Cemetery on City Island,
points out gravesite of Captain
John O'Brien, aka Dynamite
Johnny, to Bill Twomey. Mr.
Ulman has recently resigned from
that position.

I met
John Ulmer, the superintendent of the
cemetery, there a few days ago and he showed
me the headstone of “Dynamite Johnny.” It
was paid for by the Cuban rebels who never
forgot the help he gave them when all others
refused to come to their assistance.
Dynamite Johnny was once the most celebrated
sea captain in the civilized world. His
daring feats were chronicled in the
newspapers and magazines of the era and
everyone knew that when other ship captains
refused to accept a dangerous assignment,
Captain John O’Brien would save the day.

His
tombstone simply reads Capt. John O’Brien,
born April 20, 1837, died June 20, 1917.
Actually, according to the New York Times,
he really died on June 21st. That’s a minor
point when you consider the simplicity in
the design and limited verbiage on the
monument. No one could tell what a
courageous man and “bigger than life” hero
actually lies interred in that simple grave.
He was, though, a simple man and would
certainly be pleased that his grave
overlooks the sea that he loved so much.

His
first job was only a block from his home in
sight of Hell Gate outfitting a schooner and
then his brother, Peter, hired him to help
out on the ferry he ran from Manhattan to
Greenpoint. It was there that he learned to
navigate safely through Hell Gate. Later he
would go off to the Civil War as the third
officer of the “Illinois.” His next gig was
as a mate aboard the schooner “The Deer”
plying the waters to Mexico. He then became
master of a schooner after which he joined
the Hell Gate pilots. He was commissioned on
July 25, 1871 and was assigned flag number
21. It was as a pilot that he gained a
reputation as a daredevil navigator.

It wasn’t until the mid-1880’s that he began
running arms to revolutionists in Colombia.
Although he was known as a daredevil, he
didn’t earn his moniker “Dynamite Johnny”
until 1888. Explosives were not yet
denatured in that era and carrying them was
a real danger as any sudden movement of the
ship could cause an explosion. Most sea
captains and ship owners simply refused to
transport such cargo. The revolutionary
Cubans purchased sixty tons of dynamite but
then found that no shippers were willing to
carry such dangerous cargo. The Cubans then
decided to purchase a large ship and
negotiated for the “Rambler.” Now they had
transportation but no captain was willing to
sign on with such a volatile cargo. Finally
they approached Daredevil Johnny who
undertook the task. He kept the cargo secret
from the crew he hired knowing that all
would refuse to ship with him. When caught
in a storm, he went below and began lashing
down his cargo all by himself knowing the
danger he faced. He delivered the cargo
safely and on time and thenceforth became
known as “Dynamite Johnny.”

He undertook numerous other dangerous
adventures and his life story of shipwrecks,
mutinies and the like could fill more than
one volume. Suffice it to say that “Dynamite
Johnny” is now at peace on lovely City
Island in the beautiful Bronx where the
waves can be seen and heard and sea sagas
recalled.